If you don’t see instructions below for your specific version or browser, search your browser’s Help menu for “clear cache”. If you’re unsure what browser version you’re using, from the Help menu, select About [browser name]. InInternet Explorer and Firefox, if you don’t see the menu bar, press Alt.

Tap Clear History and Website Data and confirm. Close all browser windows and re-open the browser.

Chrome

In the browser bar, enter:

chrome://settings/clearBrowserData

Select the following:

Browsing history

Download history

Cookies and other site and plug-in data

Cached images and files

From the Obliterate the following items from: drop-down menu, you can choose the period of time for which you want to clear cached information. To clear your entire cache, select the beginning of time.

Click Clear browsing data. Close all browser windows and re-open the browser.

Firefox

From the History menu, select Clear Recent History.If the menu bar is hidden, press Alt to make it visible.

From the Time range to clear: drop-down menu, select the desired range; to clear your entire cache, select Everything.

Next to “Details”, click the down arrow to choose which elements of the history to clear. Click Clear Now. Close all browser windows and re-open the browser.

Internet Explorer 8 and higher

From the Tools or Safety menu, select Delete browsing history….If the menu bar is hidden, press Alt to make it visible.

Opera

In the dialog box that opens, select the items you want to clear, and then clickDelete. Close all browser windows and re-open the browser.

Safari

From the Safari menu, select Reset Safari….

Select the items you want to reset, and then click Reset. As of Safari 5.1,Remove all web site data includes both cookies and cache. Close all browser windows and re-open the browser.

]]>http://www.uvm.edu/techteam/clearing-browser-cache/feed/0JMP Pro 11 Setuphttp://www.uvm.edu/techteam/jmp-pro-11-setup/
http://www.uvm.edu/techteam/jmp-pro-11-setup/#commentsTue, 27 Jan 2015 22:13:01 +0000http://www.uvm.edu/techteam/?p=5161The purpose of this is to act as a walkthrough on setting up JMP Pro 11. You will notice this is done on a Mac but the process is pretty much the same on a Windows machine. The most common issue with this installation process is that the installer is buried within about five directories. Throughout this tutorial we will attempt to walk you through the process but if any questions come please contact the UVM Tech Team.

Start by downloading JMP 11 from the UVM Software Archive. To get there type www.uvm.edu/software into your web browser and log in using your UVM netid and password. The picture below illustrates that page.

Please choose whichever operating system you are currently using and continue to follow along. From here you should navigate to where JMP Pro 11 is located. Unless there are special circumstances it is best to install the newest version of JMP.

Now click “Download JMP Pro now” The file will probably be saved in your downloads folder. This is where it gets tricky for most people. When you have located the JMPPro112.zip file please double click and open the file.

If you are on a Mac then you will get a message saying that the file is being extracted when this finishes you will need to go into the newly created JMPPro112.zip folder and continue following along.

On a Windows computer you should be able to double click on the file and open it normally.

After you have successfully opened the file you should see an window that looks similar to this.

Now click on and open the file called JMP. This is where we have to navigate through a few folder before we actually get to the installer. After opening the JMP folder you see something similar to the photo below.

Open the JMP_Pro folder and continue onward.

Again open the 11_2 folder and continue onward.

Note: The numbers may be different here depending on the version you are installing.

Continue as before and click on the Macintosh folder.

Note: If you are on a Windows computer this will say “Windows”, click on it anyway.

Finally we get to the installer. If you are working on a Mac the it will look like the picture above. If you are installing it on a windows machine then you will see quite a few more things listed in the directory. One of them will be titled setup.exe and should be listed as an Application in the description. Click on that one to begin the installation.

Install the program as you would normally.

Note: If while installing JMP Pro on a Windows computer you get an error message saying that the file cannot be extracted here. Please go all the way back to the main folder probably in your downloads and right click on it. From there you should see an option to extract the file, click that. After this finishes navigate back to the file titled setup.exe and run it.

After the installation process you should two windows like the ones shown below.

Now the installation is finished. You will probably get a Window that says something about registering the software. You can click the option that says do it later.

Note: When you run the program for the first time on the Mac you could get an error that says it needs a new license file to activate. To resolve this uninstall the program by moving it to the trash. Empty the trash and then restart the computer. Then download JMP again and go the installation process all over again.

If you run into further problems please ask or TA’s or come to the UVM Tech Team Computer Carry-In Clinic for help.

]]>http://www.uvm.edu/techteam/jmp-pro-11-setup/feed/0Netbeans Setuphttp://www.uvm.edu/techteam/netbeans-setup/
http://www.uvm.edu/techteam/netbeans-setup/#commentsFri, 23 Jan 2015 13:30:21 +0000http://www.uvm.edu/techteam/?p=5132This article will walk you through the steps of setting up Netbeans. Netbeans is a software application that is commonly used in Robert Erickson’s web development classes including CS008 and a few others. This article walks through the process of setting up netbeans on a Mac but I assure you that the process is almost identical when you are using a Windows machine.

First we need to install Netbeans and the download link can be found here:

https://netbeans.org/downloads/

Most people will probably want to download the version that is specific to HTML5 and PHP.

From there we need to install Netbeans. Run the installer as you would normally for any other application then open Netbeans. When you open Netbeans you should see something like this.

Basically Netbeans manages all the different server connections by having a separate project for each one. As a result we need to create a new project for UVM CS008. You can do this by clicking the small orange square in the top right corner. When you do it should bring up a screen that looks similar to this:

Now this is asking what type of project we would like to create. Please click on PHP from the left window which should allow you to choose PHP Application from the right window as seen below.

Now click Next which will allow you to begin and setup your project.

In the Project Name field please enter something like cs008. After that we need to choose a location for the Sources Folder. Click Browse.

Navigate to the Documents folder and then create a directory called cs008. From there click open and return to the previous screen. Now verify that the Sources Folder is pointing to a directory within the Documents folder and click next. Now we need to configure the server connection for your project.

Make sure the Run As setting is set to FTP, SFTP or Netbeans will not be able to communicate to the server where you site is being hosted.

In the project URL field please enter http://bstringe.w3.uvm.edu/cs008 Note: bstringe should be replaced with your netid.

Click Manage so that we can setup the finer details of the remote connection. You will be prompted to Create a New Connection.

Make sure the Connection Type is SFTP and you can name it pretty much anything you want. Click OK.

This means we are almost done. Press OK and you should get brought back to this screen.

Note: Make sure the Upload Directory field is blank.

Click Finish and now we can test the connection.

To do this create a new PHP Document and name it index.php. You should see something like this:

Please type print(‘test’); between <?php and ?>. If ?> does not exist add somewhere after print(‘test’).

Now click the Green play button and upload the file to the web. If you did it correctly you should see something similar to what you see below open in your default web browser.

If you have any questions please contact the TA for your course and they should be able to help you troubleshoot the issue further. Additionally you are welcome to come into the UVM Computer Carry-In Clinic and they will be able to assist you with the install.

Troubleshooting Offline Files

My previous post describes the normal operation of Offline Files. And most of the time, “it just works.” But there are times when it won’t, and getting it running again can be challenging.

Two Important concepts

First, it’s important to understand that the Offline Files facility is providing a virtual view of the network folder to which Documents has been redirected when Windows detects that the network folder is unavailable. This means that, when Offline Files is really borked, users can see different things in their Documents folder depending one whether their computers are online or offline.

Second, Windows treats different names for the same actual server as if they are different servers altogether. Specifically, Windows will only provide the Offline Files virtual view for the path to the target network folder. You can see the target folder path in the Properties of the Documents folder.

If the second path is the one that is shown in the Location tab in the properties of the Documents folder, then you will be able to access that path while offline, but not the first path.

Show me the logs

There are event logs that can be examined. I’ll mention them, but I’ve rarely found them helpful in solving a persistent problem. If you want to get the client up and running again ASAP, skip ahead to the Fix it section.

There are some logging options available that can help in diagnosing problems with offline files. There are two logs that are normally visible in the Windows Event Viewer, under theApplications and Services logs heading:

Microsoft-Windows-Folder Redirection/Operational

Microsoft-Windows-OfflineFiles/Operational

In addition, there are some logs that are visible only when you enable the Show Analytic and Debug logs option on the View menu. Specifically, the Microsoft-Windows-OfflineFiles/SyncLog, once visible and then enabled, seems as though it should be helpful in troubleshooting problems. However, mostly it just shows the same errors and messages that you see in the Sync Center results.

Just tell me how to fix it

If someone has errors in their Offline Files results, and some basic troubleshooting hasn’t resolved the issue, the following procedure should restore Offline Files functionality while preserving any unsynced data in the Offline Files cache.

Preserve the current contents of the Offline Files cache

Disable ALL network connections, Ethernet and Wi-Fi. That way, you will be able to operate on the Offline Files cache, rather than the live network folder.

Copy the contents of the Documents folder to a local folder, e.g., C:\temp\MyDocsCopy. YOu can do this with the GUI, or use a command-line tool like xcopy, robocopy, or PowerShell:

Reset the Offline Files cache

I’ve described the procedure to reset the Offline Files cache previously. Please note that this will reset the cache for all users of the computer. If there are multiple users, make sure that the other users’ data is syncing safely, or if not, make local backups for each.

The brief version is that you add a single registry value and reboot. You can use the following command, run from within an elevated command prompt:

After setting this value, you need to reboot the computer to complete the reset operation. Once you reboot, re-enable your network connections so that your computer can recreate the local Offline Files cache. I usually make sure I’m using a wired (Ethernet) connection, since I may have to sync several Gigabytes.

Compare the Copy to the Network folder

The local copy you made should contain any unsynced data that was stuck in the Offline Files cache prior to the reset operation. You can use a directory comparison or sync tool to identify any such data, and save it to the network folder.

FreeFileSync is a popular open source tool for directory comparison and syncing. You can alsoRoboCopy or any other tool with which you may be familiar for syncing folders. A full description of these tools is beyond the scope of this article, but some quick examples follow.

Using FreeFileSync

I’ve added my local copy of the Offline Files cache (c:\temp\MyDocsCopy) to the left pane and the folder redirection target to the right pane of FreeFileSync. I’ve also clicked the gear icon and set the Synchronization mode to Update. In this case, I just need to copy any new or updated files from my local copy to the network folder.

I always do a comparison or listing before making any actual changes. This avoids much heartache. For that reason, I hit the Compare button to begin the analysis and report what files will be updated.

The FreeFileSync interface shows a quick summary of the count and size of files and folders that will be synced, as well as the files that will be overwritten (updated) on the destination. I have turned off the display of files that won’t be copied by clicking the right button highlighted in orange at the bottom of the window.

You can get lots of information by hovering over the files on each pane. If the actions displayed look appropriate, go ahead and click the Synchronize button.

Using robocopy

If you don’t mind (or prefer) a command-line interface, or if you don’t want to install additional software, you can use the robocopy [more] command, which comes with Windows. The format of the command is:

robocopy <source> <destination> [<options>]

The most important option to add is /L which makes robocopy LIST the files and folders, but not actually copy anything. I use this option to make sure I get the correct behavior in the list-only output before I very efficiently inflict injury to my data. The options I use in the command example below, which you have to scroll sideways to see, are as follows:

OPTION

DESCRIPTION

/L

List-only mode; don’t add, delete or modify any files

/S

process (non-empty) Subdirectories recursively

/XO

eXclude Older files (existing in both places, but file in source is older)

/XX

eXclude eXtra files and folders (files and folder that exist only in destination)

/NDL

No Directory Logging (default is to log filecount for each directory processed)

Here’s the command as it executed against the same folders as FreeFileSync above:

Line 17 shows a file that exists in both places, but is newer (more recently modified) in the source folder. Line 18 shows a new file, one that isn’t present in the destination. Lines 24 and 25 show a summary of files and data that are listed. All this data corresponds to what was shown in the FreeFileSync utility.

If you want to perform the file sync, remove the /L option and run the command again.

Cleanup

Once all the data is safely in the network folder, you can remove the local copy. Or, if you’re like me, you can leave instructions for the user to remove the folder when they’re confident that things are working again.

I hope this guide is useful. If you run into any problems, or have suggestions on ways I can make this guide more helpful, please let me know.

Folder Redirection and Offline Files

The following information is not new. We are in the process of making changes to our Folder Redirection policy, though, and I thought it might be helpful to have this baseline information in a place that is handy for referral.

Background

Offline Files is a feature of Windows that was introduced in parallel with Folder Redirection in Windows 2000. Folder Redirection allows an administrator to relocate some of the user profile data folders to a network folder, which has the advantage of protecting that data from loss due to workstation issues like drive failure, malware infection, or theft. It also means you can access your data from multiple workstations.

The Offline Files facility provides a local cache of the redirected folder(s) so that mobile users can continue to work with the data in those folders when disconnected from the organization’s network. When the computer is connected to the network again, any changes to either the network folder or the local Offline Files cache are synchronized. Users are prompted to resolve any conflicting changes, e.g., the same file was modified in both places, or was deleted from one and modified in the other.

At UVM, we use Folder Redirection on the Documents folder (formerly My Documents in XP), as well as the Pictures, Video, and Music folders. Most of the time, the Offline Files facility works without issue. However, as with all technology, Offline Files can fail. There are circumstances that can result in the corruption of the database that Offline Files uses to track the sync status of files. Doing major reorganizing and renaming of files and folders, for example, seems to be a culprit. Another one is filling your quota; you can continue to save files to your local cache, but the files won’t get synced to the server because you’re out of space.

How to sync your offline files

To manually synchronize your Offline Files with the target network folder, open the Sync Center by:

Going to the Start Screen (or menu) and typing sync center

Clicking the Sync Center item in the search results

or

Find the Sync Center tray icon and double-click it, or

Right-click and select the Open Sync Center menu item

The Sync Center Window should appear.

Note that the Offline Files item shows the time of the most recent sync operation. If you want to initiate a sync operation, click Offline Files and then click Sync.

If there are errors or conflicts that require intervention to resolve, those will be show in the result. A conflict result is shown below.

Click the N Conflicts link or View sync conflicts on the left to see details about the files in conflict.

Select each file conflict you want to resolve, and click Resolve or right-click the file and select View options to resolve…

In this scenario, a file has been deleted in one location, and modified while offline in the other. Since only the one file exists, there are only two options: delete the file, or copy it to both locations.

Another scenario involves a file have been modified both offline and online, probably while using multiple computers. In that case, the resolution Window offers three choices: pick the offline file (on this computer), pick the online version (on the network folder), or keep both by renaming one of them.

Sync Errors are handled differently, and may require the help of your IT support staff or the UVM Tech Team.

To review the errors or conflicts, you can view the Sync Results.

You can view details about an individual error by hovering over it with the mouse cursor. In the example above, my folder “2. Archive” is throwing an “Access is denied” error. To resolve an error like this, it may be necessary to contact the Tech Team. In some cases, it’s necessary to reset the Offline Files tracking database and essentially start over. This procedure is documented in a separate post, Troubleshooting Offline Files.

A Wiki is a mini-web site you and your students can build within your course. You can think of it as a series of interconnected web pages. Each member of the course, or group, can create, delete, and edit pages in the wiki as well as create links between the pages.

A Wiki can be set up to be edited by the whole class or by individual groups. It can be a collaborative project tool or a place for individual.

You can create multiple wikis with a course for different purposes. For example, you might wish to have individual wikis for each student to create a multimedia project or write a paper, group wikis for student groups to create wiki projects, and wikis that are built by the entire class. Blackboard wikis can only be viewed by members of the course.

How to set up a Wiki

Go to a content page (such as Course Materials) and make sure Edit Mode is ON

On this page, under the “Tools” button, choose “Wikis”

On this page, choose “Create New Wiki” and click “Next”

Fill out the form, choose your settings, and click “Submit”

On this page, make sure your newly create wiki is now highlighted, and click “Next”

This new feature in Blackboard enables faculty (and students) to easily record and add video to many areas within a course space. This feature is useful in situations, particularly in online or hybrid courses, when more “presence” might be needed to explain a complicated idea or clarify assignment expectations.

The “everywhere” part of this feature’s name is not too much of an exaggeration! If you are using the Blackboard text editor, you can record a video using your device’s web cam. For example, video can be added to:

Content items

Discussion Board

Announcements

Journals

Blogs

Wikis

Students can also add video to the course in places where they have access to the Blackboard text editor, i.e., discussion board, journals, wikis, and blogs.

How It Works

Basically you record the video using a webcam, and the tool guides you to upload it to YouTube. You must have a YouTube account prior to uploading. Note: if you have a Google account, you can sign on using those credentials.

There are a few additional clicks needed prior to recording. Some you will only need to do once for every Blackboard session (and redo next time you log in), but you’ll be prompted for others every time you want to record. For example, for each Blackboard session, you must click on the “YouTube Terms of Service” before the record button appears.

Two ambiguous messages you will encounter before you can record:

“Allow s.ytimg.com to access your camera and microphone.”
“The website at bb.uvm.edu would like to use your webcam to upload to YouTube.”

After jumping through these small hoops (clicking “yes” or “OK”), you’ll be ready to record. When you are finished, uploading is straightforward. After you stop recording, choose whether to embed the video in the page or to have users open it in a new window, and then you are done.

Some Caveats

Smile BEFORE you click that “Ok to allow Blackboard to upload” because recording startsimmediately after you click!

Video files are stored on YouTube. By default, videos are recorded with the “unlisted” privacy setting. While this means that the video cannot be found by searching YouTube, it is still not a secure environment. Therefore, confidential conversations and information should not be shared via Blackboard Video Everywhere unless YouTube private settings are changed to “Private.”

Video files are not captioned automatically. While YouTube does have a transcription tool, it is not always accurate. If you have a student in your class with an approved ACCESS accommodation for captions, please check with the ACCESS office before using this tool (captioning@uvm.edu)

Blackboard is made up of a series of tools, which allow you to do certain things in your course, such as upload files, communicate with students via email or discussion board and post announcements.

However, there may be cases when you don’t want tools available to your students (or guests) to use within the course. Conversely, you may not see a course tool available for use that you would like to employ. Many tools can be turned on or off at the course level. Here is how to manage the available tools in your course:

Click on the Customization area of the Control Panel on the left of your screen.

Click on Tool Availability.

On the Tool Availability page, you can check or uncheck the boxes to the right of the tool options to choose whether to make the tool available to users.

Click Submit.

For reference, we’ve reproduced the help documents from blackboard on this subject in case you would like more information about how to manage tool availability in your course:

Availability Settings

Available tools are listed alphabetically in the Tool Availability table. The table is divided into columns:

Available – The tool is available throughout the Course and open to all users that have a role permitting the use of the tool.

Visible to Guests – The tool is visible (read-only), but not usable to Guests when Guests are permitted in the Course.

Visible to Observers – The tool is visible (read-only), but not usable to Observers when Observers are permitted in the Course.

Available in Content Areas – The Instructor can place a link to a tool in one or more Content Areas of the Course.

Tools with a check box in a column can be made available by selecting the check box and made unavailable by clearing the check box. Tools with a grayed checkbox in a column have been turned off by the system administrator. Tools with a dash ( – ) in a column do not have availability settings in the system that can be changed.

If tools are made unavailable after a period of being available, either at the Course level by the Instructor or at the system level by the system administrator, no content is deleted from the system. If the tools are made available again, the existing content remains and becomes accessible.

Filter Display

Click Filter on the action bar to sort the table based on availability status for the tool and for the role users have in a Course. Filtering makes it easier to see which tools are available and visible, and change settings based on those criteria.

Email

Email settings have added controls accessed by opening the contextual menu and selectingEmail Settings. From here, Instructors can limit the ability of Students to send email to various groups of users in the Course. For example, the Instructor can disable the Students’ ability to email all users and all groups in a Course to cut down on duplicate messages and potential misuse of email. Students who have opted out of email using their Privacy Settings will not be emailed by other Students, even if the All Users, Select Users, or Select Groups options are used. These settings do not affect the Instructor’s ability to send email.

Content Type Availability

Content Type Availability only controls whether or not that type of content can be created. It does not affect the ability of users to see that type of content.

Module Page Settings

When the checkbox for Module Page is disabled:

The Create Module Page option is available in the Create Item drop-down list for the Course Menu in Edit Mode.

Module Pages added to the Menu are accessible, unless the Instructor sets the individual page to unavailable.

Module Pages inside content folders are NOT accessible in when Edit Mode is OFF.

When the check box for Module Pages is selected:

The Create Module Page is available in the Create Item drop-down list for the Menu in Edit Mode.

Module Pages added to the Menu are accessible, unless the instructor sets the individual page to unavailable.

Blackboard Tests and Surveys are a great way to assess the progress of your students. Faculty find the test tool helpful for short self assessments on the course material. Surveys are anonymous and have the same functions as the test tool but the answers are not associated with a particular student in the class. Faculty use surveys for student evaluations of the course and for quick polls about how students feel the course is moving along during the semester.

Creating Tests

The process for creating a test is the same as for a survey. After creating (or copying/importing from another course), you will need todeploy the test in order for students to access it.

Item Analysis

You can obtain statistics on overall test performance and on individual test questions using item analysis. This data helps you recognize questions that might not adequately discriminate between students who understand the material and those who do not. You can use this information to improve questions for future tests or to adjust credit on current attempts. Ineffective or misleading question are identified easily, corrected in the Test Canvas, and are re-graded automatically.

Test Availability Exceptions

Instructors can select one or more groups of students and make exceptions to existing availability settings. These exceptions can be used to provide an accommodation to a disabled student, or provide accommodations for technology and language differences.

These settings can be changed at any time, even after the test has been attempted by some students. If conflicts in rules occur, the most permissive settings for that user or group of users is granted. For example, students would receive the greatest number of attempts, longest availability time, and so on.

Test Access Log

The test access log shows a detailed list of every interaction that students engage in when taking a test. If a student claims to have started a test the log will show the time the test was started. If a network or internet disruption occurred during the test for example, the log would show an unusual gap in the time. The access log can be retrieved when viewing the assessment attempt:

Reviewing Survey Results

Surveys are anonymous, so you cannot see individuals’ answers. You can only see which students have completed the survey because of green checkmarks that appear in the grade box in the survey column.

There are a couple of ways to view the results:

In the Grade Center, click the drop down button at the top of the survey column and choose “Attempts Statistics.” Here you see the percentages of responses by question.

To view the results in a spreadsheet, click the drop down button at the top of the survey column and choose “Download Results.” The defaults can be left alone, and choose “Click to download results.” You can either open them directly with Excel or save the file to your computer.